MKR vs The Block – One of Australian TV’s greatest battles!

It is no secret Australians love their reality TV. As a result of this love it is now common knowledge that having the biggest and best reality franchise is instrumental in reigning supreme in the ratings war. This has paved the way for what is now one of Australian TV’s great battles, MKR vs The Block.

Seven have had a fantastic start to the year with the 5th series of MKR seeing 1.8M TTPL tuning in for the launch on the 27th Jan. This was up +18% YOY and comes as the highest launch yet up, +58% from the first series in 2010.

Nine launched The Block: Fans Vs Favourites on the same night to 1.3M TTPL. This was up +29% from The Block: All Stars launch YOY. However it is down -36% down from the series launch back in 2003.

First indications are that Seven are in for another successful year with MKR. The 2014 series has managed to consistently perform, remaining strong as it entered its second week on air, with a staggering 2.1M TTPL tuning in on Tuesday. This stability is across all the demos with P25-54 noticeably strong pulling in 1.07M on its second Tuesday, up +26% from launch night.

However, if we delve deeper into the money demos, the most relevant demographics for advertisers, Nine has enjoyed more success than Seven recently.

Each night MKR and The Block have competed against each other, MKR has ranked #1 against TTPL and all key buying demos. However, both Thursday nights (30.1.14 & 6.2.14) when MKR was absent from the schedule and The Block was on air, the program ranked number one for the night against all demographics – including TTPL.

Though MKR is currently in the lead for 2014, The Block: Fans Vs Favourites is still performing strongly and past data tells us that The Block’s audience builds with time-so the race for ratings is not over just yet. The numbers highlight that The Block skews younger than MKR which could see Nine take the lead in the money demos later in the series.

Both programs are powerful, influential launch platform and are an integral part of Australia’s TV landscape, setting up each respective Network’s success for the year. However it is very clear that despite the benefitsThe Block presents, MKR looks to be an overall dominant force in the foreseeable future.

About Us

At OMD Australia we champion a spirit of innovation and a thirst for what’s next. We have an unwavering commitment to deliver sharper insights, smarter ideas and stronger results.
Discover what inspires the most awarded agency network in the world: